


Lake, three naked boys and a ghost

by Lynx12232



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M, Pining, Ronan Lynch Has Feelings, Ronan Lynch Has No Chill, Ronan Lynch Loves Adam Parrish, Skinny Dipping, Summer, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29713482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynx12232/pseuds/Lynx12232
Summary: It was a short second, it was a blink of an eye, but it felt magical for Ronan. He barely even saw anything, as the water was dirty, but it was enough. The blurred image of Adam, above him, his hair sprawled around his head, sun beaming behind him. And the quiet, all the noise of the world blocked by what seemed like infinity of water, just them, right here and there. It made Ronan believe it would be enough for him. Never having Adam in full, just being his silent observer, his friend. The magic of simply being next to him, it was ethereal. Adam was an ethereal creature for Ronan and in those moments, he felt like merely soaking in the infinity of him was going to keep him from starving, not leaving him full, but enough to live.
Relationships: Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	Lake, three naked boys and a ghost

**Author's Note:**

> The idea is kind of forced, with the whole skinny dipping, but it felt sooooo goood to write it, I hope you like it anyway. I'm counting on your opinions in the comments! :D Also english is not my first lanugage so there can be some mistakes, correting them is very welcome.

It was stinking hot today. Not like ice cream, sunny and cheerful hot. It was strokes, sun burns and misery hot. There was no point in getting ice cream, in a minute it just became a warm milkshake. And Ronan hated it. He so deeply hated it. He hated that his tank was all soaked in sweat, that the sun was scorching so hard, that there was no way you could be in it for more than a minute,(not that Ronan was much of a tanning guy, but now that he couldn't get it he wanted it) and that there was no relive nowhere. The only place it was acceptable for Ronan was in his BMW, with the air conditioner turned on the lowest temperature possible.Still hot, but considerably less. 

So Ronan was sitting in his car, Gansey was somewhere around, with another beeping thing to measure some shit Ronan didn’t really give a damn about and Noah in between, once there with Ronan, once out with Gansey, once somewhere entirely different. Ronan wondered if ghosts felt heat too? He pinpointed to ask Noah the next time he appeared.

Ronan thought of Adam. He was at work now, at Boyd’s. Did they have air conditioner there? He hoped they did. That would be a joke if they didn’t. He pinpointed to check that as soon as possible. But even if they didn’t Adam still must have been hot. Maybe he could dream something for him? Damn he could dream something for himself too. As far as he was concerned Gansey liked the heet, Noah was to be asked if he could even feel it, and the maggot came straight from hell, so he assumed she was used to it. 

He was rightfully getting himself to sleep when the BMW doors opened. 

“Okay, we can go. All done for today.” Gansey mused, all too cheerful for Ronan’s liking. How can you trust someone who is so gleeful in a weather like that? He didn’t even look like he sweated. Fucking weird.

“Where to now?” Ronan asked as they drove to the road. 

“Boyd’s, we are going to pick Adam up, something I need to discuss with him.” Gansey answered, absentmindedly, going through the weird beeping thing, brows furrowed. 

So Ronan drove to Boyd’s. 

When they pulled over, Adam was already waiting for them. What a sight he was. Sitting on the steps, one leg a step further than the other, gulping water. He was in his working coveralls and a withe t-shirt, all soaked wet. When he spotted them, he finished his water, dumped the empty bottle into the trash can and got in the car. He sat in the seat, fastened his belt and threw his head backward sighing heavily, lips parted. 

Ronan knew he didn’t do it on purpose, that he didn’t realise how voluptuous it was to Ronan, what it did to him. His stretched neck, muscles painfully visible under the wet fabric, those delicious, long fingers brushing locks that stuck to skin from his forehead. Now even the coolness of BMW couldn’t save Ronan.

“Turn on some music.” Adam proposed, jauntily, his face prominently tired, but something careless and merry was in his eyes. Ronan’s heart jumped at that. 

They crossed glances in the rear view mirror and Adam looked so deep into Ronan, that he lost his surroundings for a moment. How this boy mandaled with him frightened him, but it was such an exciting fright. Every exchanged stare worth the pain it brought after.

Ronan put one of the CD’s Gansey once placed in the BMW, for when they would want to listen to some ‘not excruciating’ music, as he had put it. There was this one song Ronan knew Adam liked, he always rocked his foot to it, he even saw him mouthing the lyrics once, when he thought no one was looking. Those were the best moments. When he thought no one was looking. When Adam thought there was no audience, he lost his demeanor, loosened. He wasn’t what he wanted the others to see, he was just Adam then. Adam not influenced by his life experience, by have toos and the stress of homework do to tomorrow. He was just Adam. Ronan wanted him like that, Ronan longed for Adam like this, longed for Adam who knows he is looking, but still doesn’t put his defenses up. That would feel like the highest level of trust Adam Parrish was capable of. 

So Ronan skipped the CD to that song. This time Adam did not mouth the lyrics, too aware of Ronan’s eyes in the rear view mirror. But a sluggish smirk hung on his face, as if he knew Ronan’s thought’s and praised in them. Ronan flushed at that, or he thought he did, it was too fucking hot to tell.

They pulled over at Monmouth, but Ronan had no intentions of getting out of the car. 

“Ronan, you’re not going to sit in here the whole day.” Gansey stood already out, holding the door open and hunching inside the BMW.

“Yes, honey, I am.” Ronan smiled his devil smile and reached to snap the door from Gansey, who was currently letting all the cold out.

Gansey started forming his disappointed, dad-like face, but then Adam surprised them all.

“Let’s go to the lake.” He suggested, but was already sitting back on the leather seat, like it wasn’t a mere proposition, but an order. Ronan enjoyed obeying Adam Parrish.

“Two to one Dick, the fact that your mother’s a Republican doesn’t free you from democracy.” Ronan started the car. Adam smirked. And Gansey got in the car.

As they stood by the lake and Adam started to take off his coveralls, Ronan reevaluated his decisions. Not that he didn’t appreciate the sight, oh he did. The problem was he was way too hooked on what he was seeing. Adam, standing in only his underwear, stretching, sun illuminating his tanned skin. Every freckle painfully visible, decorating his smoothe, so smooth skin, which reflection was only flawed by sporadic scars. Old scars, and there were none coming in the future, that thought was something that often soothed Ronan to sleep at night. 

Ronan didn't even notice that Gansey undressed too and they were both looking at him.

"What?" He crossed his arms on his chest.

"You're going to swim in full apparel?" Adam asked, raising his eyebrows in challenge.

"We should skinny dip!" Noah appeared from nowhere and shouted cheerfully. 

Adam laughed, Gansey looked like he seriously considered it and Ronan was just confused. And kind of scared, he didn’t want to skinny dip.

“You wanna do this?” Adam pointed his question to Gansey.

“Well it would be nice not to wet our underwear. And it seems like an appropriate summer celebration. It’s also convenient that Blue’s not with us…” It was hilarious to Ronan how thoroughly he was thinking it through and he so badly wanted to make a comment about Blue seeing his little dick, but he was too scared it would shift the attention to him.

The attention shifted to him anyway.

“Ronan?” Gansey looked at Ronan like he wanted his approval on this.

“No fucking way.” He tried to be casual saying it, but he felt like fe failed.

“C’mon Ronan, since when you’re so shy?” Adam teased him again, and he was already shoving fingers in his pants waistband. _ Oh dear God have mercy on me...  _

“We’re like brothers, it’s not weird.” Gansey tried to reason propping his hand on his hip.

“Dick, think about what you said again.”

“We’re like real brothers, not like you and Declan!” Noah interjected, looking tired with Ronan.

“Just think about it, it will be really more comfortable..” Gansey and his reasonable arguing.

“If you wanna see a dick, Richard, look in the mirror, not in my pants.”

Adam was his usual quiet, meticulously listening. When Ronan looked at him, Adam gazed right into his eyes and smiled mischievously, then he slid down his boxers.

Ronan was very much not prepared for what he was presented. He didn’t look away though, partly because it would be suspicious, and partly because he didn’t want to. He got so much dreaming material today, it came with a cost, but maybe it was worth it. He felt himself blush and he hoped it wasn’t much notable in the scorching sun.

“Fine, you do you.” Gansey exclaimed, and slid down his own underwear. 

This time Ronan did look away, he didn’t want to dream about  _ that _ . Noah just sighed and ran towards the water himself. When they were all in, he considered his options. 

He considered, and considered, and finally, he thought, what the hell, maybe Adam will see his junk and fall in love with him. He undressed and joined the crowd.

The water was so pleasantly cold he forgot all about his anxiety. He closed his eyes and swam around, ducking underneath the surface from time to time. It was nice until he got pushed under water by his head. He emerged, opened his eyes and saw Adam with an innocent expression.

“You little shit.” Now he pushed him under water. 

But Adam couldn’t leave it at that, oh no, Ronan did not have such luck. When the boy was down, he escaped the light grip of Ronan’s hand on his head, and looped his arms around his legs, trying to break his balance. He normally would not budge, Adam was strong, but not that strong. Normally, he would not budge, the skin on skin, the closeness of this beautiful creature tangled around him, made his knees give up and allow Adam to get them both surrounded by water, though.

It was a short second, it was a blink of an eye, but it felt magical for Ronan. He barely even saw anything, as the water was dirty, but it was enough. The blurred image of Adam, above him, his hair sprawled around his head, sun beaming behind him. And the quiet, all the noise of the world blocked by what seemed like infinity of water, just them, right here and there. It made Ronan believe it would be enough for him. Never having Adam in full, just being his silent observer, his friend. The magic of simply being next to him, it was ethereal. Adam was an ethereal creature for Ronan and in those moments, he felt like merely soaking in the infinity of him was going to keep him from starving, not leaving him full, but enough to live.

The next second they were above again, back to the earth where Ronan so loathed to live most of the time. Back from heaven where Adam Parrish was a god and Ronan Lynch his only follower. 

There was nothing changed around them yet it felt entirely different for Ronan. Noah was splashing water on Gansey, the latter trying to run, Adam wiping his eyes, a smile beaming on his lips.

Ronan knew it was merely a second, so why did it feel like centuries? 

Adam turned around and joined Gansey and Noah, with blissful unawareness of what it all had meant to Ronan, and Ronan envied him.

When Ronan got enough of the water he sprawled himself on grass, in the shadow of trees surrounding the beach. The grass scratched his back a little, but it was bearable. He felt so blissful, finally cool. He was comfortable enough to sleep, which he wasn't in a long time. He started to drift away, when he sensed someone lying down next to him. Very close, close enough for their hands to graze. Ronan peaked his eyes slightly, to conform his suspicions. Adam.

He decided he was going to pretend to be asleep. There was no actual sleep for him of course, but neither was he in any condition to have more complex interaction with the boy next to him. 

After a few minutes Adam spoke "Why are you pretending to sleep?" 

Well shit.

"C'mon, I know."

"How?" Ronan managed, but did not open his eyes.

"I've seen you sleeping for real before, this is not what your face looks like." 

This statement made Ronan flustered and endeart. Adam Parrish watched him sleep, and did it pretty meticulously. He memorized his features. But on the other hand, was there anything Adam didn't do meticulously?  _ Calm down Ronan. _

"That's a creepy one Parrish." 

Adam laughed at that. Ronan didn’t feel like laughing. 

“Can we get going? I’ve still got some things to do.” Gansey said as he stood over them. 

Ronan didn’t know whether to be grateful or frustrated by his appearance. He didn’t know whether he wanted the conversation to go on or not.

“Yeah, we should go. I’ve got to study.” 

They dressed and got in the car. On the way back Adam and Gansey discussed whatever Gansey wanted Adam’s consultation on and Ronan kept silent, from time to time glancing over at Adam.

“I’m going to drop Gansey first, then you.” Proclaimed, after deep thought. He was thinking whether he wanted to be alone with Adam, and decided that yes, he did. He didn’t know how smart of a choice that was. 

When Gansey got out at Monmouth, Adam took the passenger seat. Their knees were bumping each other during the drive, and Adam must have been doing it on purpose, because when Gansey sat there, he had no trouble keeping their legs apart. As much as he wanted, he wasn’t able to figure that boy out.

“What does my face look like when I’m asleep?” Ronan asked, failing to sound off his curiosity. 

“Relaxed.” Adam had merely said, and it didn’t feel like enough.

“Just that? That’s how you know I’m asleep?” He dig deeper.

“If you’d see it, you would have known. It’s..” He trailed off, escaping to his thoughts.” You look innocent. Vulnerable. Your muscles here unclench” He touched his jaw, just slightly, with the nape of his fingers, but it was enough for Ronan to burn. Adam’s fingers were gone a second later, but every cell that was grazed by him, was still on fire. 

Ronan didn’t say anything, and when they pulled over at St. Agnes, Adam simply said  _ Bye _ and disappeared in the old building. Ronan gave himself a few more minutes to come back to life, then pressed the gas, and left. 

As he drove back to Monmouth, he thought about Adam. Of his smooth skin and delicate freckles. He thought of his fingers, and of how they touched him. He checked whether he can turn the air conditioner lower, he couldn't, and thought of Adam some more.


End file.
